December has been a slow birding month for me so far. I’ve been reading the local eBird lists and noticed that birders have noticed that the species lists have dropped down to 10-20 species per outing. One reason I prefer fishing to birding is that I’ve never been “skunked” while birding. There have been many […]
Author: Larry Nichols
Married, I am not a casual weekend birder,-still learning-still making mistakes. I am not a writer or photographer but enjoy blogging about my outdoor adventures. I am currently using a Canon PowerShot SX50 HS camera, Meopta Meostar 8x42 binoculars, and a vortex spotting scope. The Name Brownstone Birding Blog comes from the fact that I in which Portland has been known for its brownstone quarries for many years. Much of the brownstone used for older buildings in New York came from the town of Portland.
Quiet Nature Preserves Have Their Busy Days
We have a small nature preserve in town named The Helen Carlson Wildlife Sanctuary. I like to stop in for a quick look around whenever I’m in the area. During my last visit their was a Red-shouldered Hawk calling out keyeer keyeer keeyer from the top of a pine tree just as I was getting […]
Random fall birds and thoughts
Fall might be my favorite season. It has a mysterious feel about it that I can’t quite put my finger on. I love the smell of burning firewood on a cool night, fresh-picked apples, seeing the decorative pumpkins, camping out in a tent and especially the colorful foliage. I don’t like the term leaf-peeping though. […]
Shorebird Clock = Right Tide And Right Time
Last weekend when I checked visited the Westbrook shoreline early in the morning. Right from the start I knew it was the right tide and right time for seeing shorebirds. As I started to walk up the beach a yellowlegs seemed to be leading the way. This may not look like the ideal place […]
Failure Presents Opportunity Says Green Heron
I was on my way to doing a little weed whacking when I realized that I had forgotten the battery pack and would have to go back to drive 10 miles back to go get it. Instead of lamenting about it, I used it as an excuse to look for birds along an urban pond […]
Checking In On The Heron Rookery
We are very fortunate to have a large heronry or heron rookery as it’s more commonly called. There are dozens of Great Blue Heron nests and often in excess of 100 herons at its peak. The location used to be a secret only known by a few but now all the local birders and photographers […]
Early At The Shore With Oystercatchers
I made a stop down at the shoreline early in the morning. I was trying to catch low tide hoping to find shorebirds. The only shorebirds I came across were American Oystercatchers. They had no problem finding plenty to eat. The oystercatchers were boisterous making lots of noise communicating with each other. I also saw […]
Gift Birds On The Day Before Christmas
On this busy holiday weekend I somehow managed to steal an hour to go down to the shore. Marinas can be a great place during the winter to get a close-up look at certain birds. One of these geese is definitely not like the other! It was a nice surprise to come across a snow […]